An analytical look at what we’ve learned about the Missouri Valley Conference in the first two months of the season and how the conference race shapes up as league play opens this weekend:

The favorite

Missouri Valley Conference preview: Who can stop Doug McDermott and the Bluejays this season? (AP Photo)

Creighton. The days of Doug McDermott sneaking up on anyone are long past. Everyone in the country knows how talented Creighton's 6-8 junior forward is, and everyone knows he's capable of carrying the Bluejays for long stretches. He isn't even remotely a secret.

And, yet, the days of McDermott dominating play continue. His usage rates and assist rates are up, and he's drawing more fouls than ever — and shooting 87.3 percent from the free-throw line. And, somehow, he's shooting 50.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

It's been another incredible performance, and the primary reason the Bluejays are the overwhelming favorites in The Valley.

The team got a bit of bad news recently, though, when senior Josh Jones was forced to retire because of a heart condition. Jones, who was averaging 7.0 points in 19-plus minutes per game, fainted before a game in early December, and doctors told him he shouldn't do anything to raise his heart rate.

The contenders

Wichita State. Even with new faces filling just about every prominent role for the Shockers — only two returning players averaged more than 10 minutes per game on last season's 27-6 team — coach Gregg Marshall's squad stunned everyone with a fast start this season.

Now, though, as the Shockers prepare for Sunday's MVC opener against Northern Iowa with an 11-1 record, they're just trying to get healthy again. Leading scorer Carl Hall (28.3 minutes per game) has a broken right thumb and is out until mid-January. Ron Baker (25.1 minutes) has a stress fracture in his left foot, and a mid-February return seems to be the best-case scenario. Evan Wessel (19.0 minutes) is touch-and-go with a broken right pinkie, and Jake White (10.5 minutes) is the same way with back spasms.

Illinois State. The Redbirds can knock down a 3-pointer or two, but so far they've been the most accurate team in the country inside the arc — shooting 59.0 percent as a team on 2-point attempts. Four players — Jackie Carmichael, Tyler Brown, Johnny Hill and Jon Ekey — have at least 44 2-point attempts and are shooting better than 60 percent inside the arc.

The 6-9 Carmichael has become a major force in his senior season; he's averaging 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. If coach Dan Muller's squad is going to challenge Creighton, Carmichael must be outstanding.

Northern Iowa. The Panthers played a strong non-conference schedule. They faced Louisville, Stanford and Memphis in the Battle 4 Atlantis, they played UNLV, George Mason and Iowa away from home, and they played host to Saint Mary's.

The Panthers won only two of those games, though they nearly upset Louisville and Memphis. How will the experience of playing so many top-100 teams help in league play?

Hoping to top .500

Indiana State. The Sycamores are coming off a successful trip to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic; they beat Ole Miss and Miami (Fla.) in overtime and stayed right with No. 17 San Diego State until the very end.

Jake Odum, a 6-4 junior guard, leads the Sycamores with 14.5 points per game and already has attempted 86 free throws through 11 games—his free-throw rate of 94.5 is eighth in the country, according to kenpom.com

Evansville. It's been a slow start to the season for senior Colt Ryan, who missed a few games and had his minutes limited in a couple others after a mid-November hip pointer. Ryan, who averaged 20.5 points as a junior, currently is at 13.7—the lowest of his career—but he had 25 against Butler last weekend. A healthy Ryan makes the Purple Aces a threat on any given night.

Bradley. The Braves have six players — all juniors or seniors — averaging between 8.3 and 12.4 points, and that balance has held up against their toughest competition. Against Michigan in early December, for example, Walt Lemon led Bradley with 15 points, and five others had between nine and 11 points. That can't be a bad thing in conference play.

Dreaming of .500

Southern Illinois. Barry Hinson's first season at SIU already has produced seven wins; the Salukis won just eight all of last season.

Drake. Senior forward Ben Simons, who leads the team with 15.4 points per game, has reached double-digit points every time out this season.

Missouri State. Coach Paul Lusk's second season has been pretty forgettable. The Bears can't score consistently — according to kenpom.com, they're 318th or worse in the country in the following offensive categories: adjusted efficiency, effective field goal percentage, offensive rebounding percentage, 3-point and 2-point field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage. There's a reason their only two wins this season have been against non-Division I teams.